Lawsuit vs Zoning chair Blanco, govt dismissed

The federal court has denied the request of an owner and operator of poker machines to issue a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction to stop the CNMI government and Commonwealth Zoning Board chair Diego C. Blanco from enforcing a local law that shuts down poker parlors in residential villages.

In an order last week, U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona dismissed without prejudice the lawsuit filed by Sin Ho Nam, Winnerslife Inc., and Dan Bi Choi LLC because the claims of are not ripe, and therefore the court lacks jurisdiction.

Dismissed without prejudice means the plaintiffs can re-file the case in the future.

Manglona said the plaintiffs’ claim that the zoning laws deprive them of their constitutionally protected property is unripe.

Therefore, Manglona said, plaintiffs have no likelihood of succeeding on the merits.

Poker machines owner Nam and his company, Winnerslife, and Nam’s poker machines operator Dan Bi Choi LLC sued the government and Blanco for violation of due process.

The lawsuit was originally filed in the Superior Court, but the CNMI government and Blanco moved the case to the federal court.

Nam is a Korean national who has held a business certificate in the CNMI since 2008, during which he changed the corporate name of Sin Ho Development Inc. to Winnerslife Inc.

Dan Bin Choi LLC operates a number of poker machines owned by Nam and Winnerslife. Choi LLC was described by plaintiffs’ counsel, Robert T. Torres, as manager for Winnerslife.

The plaintiffs asked the court to declare that enforcing Public Law 18-05, or the Saipan Adult Machine Business Zoning Law of 2013, will deprive each of them of legally protected interests.

They sought an injunction that would prohibit the enforcement of the Saipan zoning law against them until their complaint is settled.

Winnerslife owns 19 poker machines. For each one, Winnerslife pays the Commonwealth an annual licensing fee of $12,000.

Torres argued that the zoning laws deprive his clients of their property—business licenses, licenses to operate gambling machines, and Nam’s E-2C visa—without due process of law under the U.S. and CNMI Constitutions.

Nam, a Korean national, holds an E-2C visa that allows him to invest in the CNMI.

Defendants, through counsel Office of the Attorney General, moved to dismiss the complaint for lack of ripeness and failure to exhaust administrative remedies.

In her ruling, Manglona said that because the zoning law has yet to be enforced, there is no history of prosecution for the court to consider.

For these reasons, the judge said, the court finds that the constitutional prong of the ripeness inquiry is not satisfied.

Separately, Manglona said, plaintiffs have not established that the Department of Finance, which issues the business licenses, has threatened to revoke or is in the process of revoking their business licenses.

The judge said Nam is unable to demonstrate a direct and immediate hardship.

Additionally, Manglona said, because the Zoning Board has not yet made a decision about whether to grant plaintiffs an extension, issuing a preliminary injunction would potentially decide the constitutional issue prematurely or unnecessarily, and would also interfere with an ongoing administrative process.